Overdoses involving stimulants increase in Tennessee; Advocates push for reward-centered recovery program

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee saw a 213% increase in overdose deaths involving stimulants from 2018 to 2022, according to data released this year from the Tennessee Department of Health.

According to the report, there were 3,826 overdose deaths in TN in 2022, with 2,103 cases where stimulants were detected, or around 55% of the time. In 2018, stimulants were detected in 671 out of the 1,818 overdose deaths, less than 37%.

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“Tennessee has long been known as one of the hotspots in the United States for methamphetamine use and methamphetamine overdose deaths, and that has not gone away,” Elliot Pinsly, president and CEO of the Behavioral Health Foundation said.

However, it’s rare overdose deaths involve just one drug.

Mary-Linden Salter, executive director of the Tennessee Association of Alcohol, Drug, and Other Addiction Services (TAADAS) told News 2 more people have recently begun mixing stimulants with opioids, believing the myth that combining the two makes using the drug “safer.”

“That’s something that’s really concerned us,” Salter said. “[ We’re ] making sure that people understand that that’s not the case.”

Experts are also concerned about the other dangers that come with using stimulants because they don’t respond to the overdose-reversing drug, Naloxone, or detox and recovery drugs for opioid use disorder.

“Those same kind of medications don’t exist yet for methamphetamine and other stimulant use disorders at least to that same degree of effectiveness,” Pinsly said. “The options are not as rich for folks with stimulant use disorder. That is why it’s so important to look at the tools being used in other state’s toolboxes and see what we can bring here to Tennessee.”

Pinsly told News 2 several states have implemented a program called contingency management, which rewards people in recovery, either financially or through other positive reinforcement, when they don’t use drugs for a certain period of time.

“We’re seeing data that shows people who engage in programs like contingency management tend to stay in treatment longer, they do better at engaging with their other treatment providers, and they are able to see less use of the substance,” Pinsly said.

He believes it could be successful in Tennessee.

According to Salter, the TAADAS has offered training on contingency management to its providers.

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The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services also referenced contingency management in its 2024 needs assessment summary , writing, “Enhancing efforts already underway with the addition of Contingency Management can increase the chances that individuals will begin treatment and maintain recovery efforts.”

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